Business Services Division

Questions Frequently Asked by County Recorders

Who is the UCC contact person at the Secretary of State's Office?Beth Swindle is the UCC Coordinator at the SoS Office. Her phone number is 317.234.1553. She will be able to answer questions as to how the SoS Office is dealing with specific issues. FORMSWhat forms will be accepted by the filing offices?Filers are strongly encouraged to use the national form or one similar to it (like the new Indiana form, which will be available in the future). The old forms are no longer standard forms. The old forms will likely be rejected because the information required by RA9 will not appear on these forms. The national form and other standard forms will likely be accepted because they contain spaces for all the of the required information. However, filers are not required, under the new law, to use any particular form, so long as no rejection reasons exist.

Does the instruction sheet on the national form count as a page for fee calculation purposes?No. The instruction sheet does not need to be included in the filing. If it is included, it does not count as an extra page for fee calculation purposes.

Are there Indiana forms for financing statements and amendments?Indiana is planning to have its own versions of the national form. It will be available via the Secretary of State's website at www.IN.gov/sos when completed. It is identical to the national form except that the Social Security number field is blocked out since that information is not required in Indiana. The Indiana form will be a standard form. The national form will also be accepted.

Are filers required to put a Social Security number on the form when filing?No. There is a space on the national form for Social Security number, Taxpayer Identification number, or Employer Identification number. This is not a filing requirement in Indiana. Apparently some jurisdictions require this number, which is why a field is included on the national form.

What is the purpose of a Correction Statement?A person may file a correction statement with respect to a particular record if the person believes that record is inaccurate or was wrongfully filed. The filing of a correction statement does not affect the effectiveness of a previously filed document. In other words, the filing office files the correction statement with the initial filing, but no information in the initial filing is changed. The filing office may not determine whether the correction statement is effective or legitimate. A correction statement may not be used to change information. An amendment shall be used to do so.

FILING PROCEDURESHow does a filer file a partial release?RA9 does not allow for a partial release as a filing type. The filer may file a termination and terminate a particular secured party's interest in the collateral being released or may file an amendment and indicate the interest being released in the comment section.

Where does a filer put additional debtor names?There is enough room on the national form for two debtor names. For more than two names, the filer should attach an Addendum (an Addendum form is included in your packet). An Addendum sheet counts as a page for fee calculation purposes.

Who determines what qualifies as consumer goods? This decision is left to the filer. The impetus of RA9 is to take responsibility and discretion, and therefore liability, off of the filing office. Filing in the wrong office is not a rejection reason listed in the statute, and therefore a filing that does not contain any rejection reasons must be accepted by the filing office. Filing offices are not responsible for determining where a person files an RA9 UCC document.

May filing offices accept filings via fax?This is a decision that is up to each office. There is no prohibition in RA9, but payment must be received at the time of filing. The SoS will not be accepting filings via fax. Instead the office is encouraging electronic filing via the internet.

Is the filing office required to make a copy of a filing and return it to the filer?The filing office must return an acknowledgment copy of the filing if the filer submits an extra copy.

What UCC filings are filed in the mortgage records?Fixture filings, which county filing offices will continue to receive, are filed in the mortgage records.

FEESAre fees the same for counties as for the SoS Office? Yes. The fees in the statute apply to all filing offices.

May the counties still charge the $3.00 supplemental fee? This issue is up to the filing office or the recorder's association to determine. The SoS does not have a statute pertaining to a comparable fee.

Does the $5.00 search fee apply to copies also?The $5.00 fee is a flat fee for a listing and all copies, if copies are requested.

Is there a fee for additional debtors? No. There is no fee for additional debtors.

What does the filing office do when too much money is sent in for the filing fee?RA9 dictates that the filing be accepted if there is at least enough to cover the filing fee. It is up to the filing office or the recorder's association to determine whether there will be a refund generated and what the threshold amount for such refund will be. The Secretary of State's Office will refund overpayments greater than $10 upon written request.

SEARCHESWhat does the open drawer concept mean? This concept means that terminated and lapsed (for one year) filings are left on record and given when processing a search request. Under RA9 it is now up to the requester to make a judgment, not the filing office, on the status of a particular record.

How are searches different under RA9?Under Old Article 9, variations (for different corporate endings) were only required to be given when requested by the searcher. Under RA9, all variations shall be given. Searches also differ in that under RA9, the filing office produces a search on the exact name requested. The search will not return filings for which the debtor's name is spelled differently from the name requested.

What is an information request?An information request is the same as a search.

Can searches be limited by the filing office?Yes. The filing office may require that the searcher indicates a particular debtor name. This means that a search for "Jones" or "Smith" may be rejected. The searcher must specify a particular debtor to be searches. For example, John Smith or B J Jones are particular debtors.

What is the difference between a lapse date and a termination date?The lapse date is the date, five years from filing the financing statement or latest continuation, when the filing will expire. A termination under RA9 is a type of amendment, so a filing does not expire when terminated. It expires five years after the financing statement or latest continuation was filed.

Is the filing office required to return all lapsed and terminated filings on a search?All filings not lapsed must be returned on a search (this includes searches on which a termination has been filed if it is not yet lapsed). Filings within one year of their lapse dates must be given if requested on the search. Filings that are past one year past the lapse date must not be given.

FILING OFFICESAre filing offices required to maintain an alphabetical and numerical file of UCCs?The filing office must be able to retrieve a filing by debtor name and file number of the initial financing statement.

When shall filing offices stop purging filings upon termination or lapse?The open drawer concept and new method of searching takes effect on July 1, 2001. At that time filing offices shall not remove terminated filings or lapsed filings until one year after lapse date. Until July 1, 2001, filing offices may continue with business as usual.